Readjusting

My trip back to the States ended up being pretty memorable...I had a 8:00 flight, which I thought would mean I could sleep in a bit, but b/c there were so many staff going on the same flight, I ended up getting picked up at 5 a.m. I also had to carry my 2 very overweight suitcases down 3 flights of stairs! I knew that my bags were going to be overweight, but I didn't think it was going to cause such a big headache for me with the airline. The airport was relatively busy, so there was a pretty good wait-- I was trying to use my credit card, and it wasn't working (which I later realized that it was an expired one, and I had the other one with me), and then when I got to the counter I was told that it was going to be cheaper to upgrade my 1st flight to First Class, b/c then the weight of my bags wouldn't matter (and it was actually cheaper)... so I had to start over the check-in process. I also was taking back several teacher resource books in my carry-on, and they had to inspect them (carrying something in the pages maybe??), and luckily I made my flight with not much time to spare. The 1st two flights were relatively easy-- Our group ate lunch at a really good restaurant at the Miami airport.. and then we all said goodbye to everyone. My last flight from Charlotte to Omaha ended up being really long... Charlotte was in a thunderstorm warning, and all the flights were grounded b/c of lightening. My flight was scheduled to get into Omaha at 9:45, and by then were just starting to take off... after sitting on the plane for that amount of time. It was about midnight Central Time when my plane got in, but I was thankful to be home!! (and that my brother was able to pick me up at the airport)
I spent the weekend at my brother's, and spending a lot of time with my nephew Dylan. First on my list of things to do was to get Hill of Beans Coffee! 😄 My parent's came up on Sunday to take me back to Atkinson, along with Dylan, who was spending the week with my parent's.

Monday morning I drove the 7 hours to Garden City, KS--where I was moving to-- to look for housing. I stayed with my best friend Alicia and her husband Brian. I knew it was going to be tough to find housing, but I didn't realize it was going to be quite that hard. The area has been growing a lot, and there just isn't a whole of housing available. I almost thought that I wasn't going to find anything, but ended up having to take an apartment that didn't take pets or a washer and dryer available. My friend who had been taking care of my cats Addie and Sadie said she would take them permanently. And though I am sad that I won't have them, it is nice that they will have someone who loves them so much. I was able to finish setting everything up, and driving back on Thursday to spend the rest of the time with Dylan. That Friday we went to Ash Falls, about an hour away from my parent's to a fossil historical park, and also met Dylan's other Grandparent's there, who were taking him with them to go to Camp.
I spent the next several days finalizing my packing, and then my parent's helped me move into my apartment June 28th. During the process of unpacking my stuff, I began to realize that I got rid of a lot more stuff before I went to the DR, then I realized! The only furniture I had was an entertainment center, so I had to buy a bed and a couch. It's felt a lot like I was back to being a 1st year teacher with having to be very careful with my finances, and really evaluate my wants and needs.
I was able to unload my school boxes (which I have found that I almost had more school boxes than personal ones!!) after a week or so, and met one of the other sped teachers I'll be working with. The school where I'll be at is going to have 3 Sped teachers, and I'll be doing 1st and 2nd Grade. My building will have a new principal, and our district will also have a new Supt. There are still some teacher's from when I was there before, but there are also a lot of new ones too.
It has been rather strange being back here after 7 years. There's been a lot of changes in the area here since I left- with businesses and restaurant's-- but it's been really nice being able to reconnect with the friend's I have here. It is also very comforting for me to not have to start over with making friends and a church-- which is something I was not looking forward to doing, had I moved to another area.
All in all, it's been nice to be back, though I'm already starting to miss my friend's in the Dominican Republic. There was a period of time the 2nd year I was in Santiago where I actually was regretting (a tiny bit) of being there. When I was deciding whether or not to go to the DR, I had an interview with Kansas University, which has always been my dream to work. My thought process was at that time, that teaching in the DR was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Well it was, but it was a short-term opportunity-- whereas working at KU was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it was long term. The last few weeks before I left SCS/The DR made all of the 2 years I had spent there, worth it. Having to say Goodbye to the student's and parent's, and the friend's that I had made, was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've moved and left student's and friend's before, but I feel like the relationships I developed were a lot deeper than others before-- which says a lot about the culture in the Dominican Republic. I still have plans to go back and visit Santiago, and hope to be able to go back during my Spring Break.